Two winning streaks came to an end for the Boston Red Sox last night, and with them a hold on any celebrations for clinching the American League east. David Price had won his last eight starts for the Red Sox, but he was not sharp last night, giving up three home runs in a 6-4 loss at Yankee Stadium.
The Red Sox winning streak had been eleven coming into the game, but homers by Gary Sanchez, Didi Gregorius, and Tyler Austin prevented number twelve. Austin's was the back breaker, as the Sox had come back twice to tie the game, and it was 4-4 in the seventh inning when Price gave up the opposite field home run to Austin with a runner on. Boston put two on in the ninth but David Ortiz, who had a rare off night at the Stadium, going 0 for 5, ended any hopes of a dramatic comeback when Tyler Clippard struck him out to end the game.
So with that loss and Toronto beating Baltimore 5-1 last night, the Red Sox magic number for clinching the division remains at one. They'll get another shot at it tonight with Clay Buchholz facing the Yankees' Bryan Mitchell. Sanchez, meanwhile, is now tied in the record books with Wally Berger of the Boston Braves for the player to reach 20 home runs the fastest in a season. Berger hit the 20-homer mark for the Braves in 51 games back in 1930 and Sanchez has now put 20 out of the park in that same span, since being called up from the minors in early August.
The NY Mets sit back atop the wild card chase, a half game ahead of the San Francisco Giants for the first wild card spot and a game in front of the St. Louis Cardinals after routing the Miami Marlins 12-1 last night. Noah Syndegaard has been struggling much of the second half of the season, but not so last night, striking out eight in six innings as the Mets pounded out 19 hits against a still grieving Marlins team grappling with the death Sunday of their superstar pitcher Jose Fernandez, who died in a boating accident at the age of 24.
Game one of the World Cup of Hockey Finals was played in Toronto last night and while it wasn't the rout many were expecting, Team Canada did score a 3-1 victory over Team Europe to move one win away from capturing the championship. It was another big night for two Boston Bruins players playing for Canada who continue to sparkle in the tournament. Brad Marchand, fresh off signing an eight year deal with Boston, scored again, his fourth goal of the tournament, set up on a nice feed by his Bruins linemate Patrice Bergeron, who also scored for Canada in the win. Montreal Canadiens goalie Carey Price, fully recovered from leg injuries that had him missing most of last season in net for the Habs, got the win in net recording 32 saves. Team Canada can win the best of three final and the Cup with a win on Thursday night.
The University of Vermont mens' soccer team suffered just its second loss of the season yesterday, and to a team that wasn't given much of a chance coming into the game. The Hartwick College Hawks won it 2-1 in double overtime on a goal by Kyle Honor, stunning the Catamounts with a comeback win on UVM's home turf at Virtue Field. UVM led 1-0 on a strike by Bernard Yeboah in the 81st minute but Kane O'Neil evened up the score for the Hawks just five minutes later, setting up Honor's heroics in the second overtime. The Catamounts are now 8-2-1 on the season while Hartwick improves to 5-1-2. UVM's Shane Haley came close to ending the upset bid when he curled a ball past Hartwick goalie Lenny Wilson early in the second OT, but the ball clanged off the post, and close only counts in horseshoes.
St. Michael's got a win 1-0 over New Haven when Jacob von Giebel knocked in a rebound on a shot by teammate Jackson Steele in the 54th minute, as the Purple Knights even their record at 4-4 on the season.
Greg Conrad struck in the 20th minute, lifting the Middlebury Panthers to a 1-0 win over Hamilton, as the Panthers run their winning streak to 3 games, and are still undefeated on the season at 5-0-1 .
Elsewhere the Castleton Spartans shut out Lyndon 3-0, Fidele Rutayisire scoring one goal and adding an assist for the Spartans.
Johnson beat Green Mountain 3-2, and Plymouth State scored an overtime victory 3-2 over Norwich on a goal by Jesper Fredholm, a game the Cadets let slip away when Plymouth State scored 2 goals in the final four minutes of regulation to tie it and set up Fredholm's game winner in OT.
In womens' college soccer Johnson beat Green Mountain 3-1, and in college Field Hockey the St. Michael's Purple Knights got a dramatic victory when Jenna Deschaine knocked in the only goal of the game in the 90th minute of double overtime, to beat Franklin Pierce 1-0 in Northeast-10 Conference play. Maddy Dobecki set up Deschaine’s goal, for St. Mike's first double OT win in field hockey in 10 years.
